What is in the Water in New England?

What is in the Water in New England?

by Amy Lignor

“There won’t be much left in our season.”

“Doesn’t feel good.”

The above are quotes made by the top echelon – the robotic twins, if you will, of the NFL – after their win. Yes…I said, win. For the sixth straight season the New England Patriots have won their divisional match-up and are headed on to play the AFC Championship Game in their own hometown – on their own home field. Making them, once again, the team to bet on. So…why the dismal quotes?

If you missed the end of the Patriots versus the Texas Titans football game (because you were frankly quite bored of it all), the Patriots won the game 31 to 16. (Gasp!) I know. What a horrible score, right? I can’t tell you how many QB’s in the NFL wish that their ‘bad day’ ended in a division win that landed them in the championship game to go to the Super Bowl. But if I were a betting fool, I would say all of them. Just ask Russell Wilson of the Seahawks. I bet he wishes he had a ‘bad day’ like that on Saturday. (People are already stating that the ‘Legion of Boom’ that turned to ‘Doom’ has now gone ‘Kaboom’ and is officially dead in the water.)

But when it comes to the perfect Patriots, it was just embarrassing to QB Tom Brady to have thrown as many interceptions in one quarter on Saturday as he has this entire season. And for Coach Bill Belichik, it must literally feel like Armageddon is coming when he has to watch his players give him a win that most definitely did not look up to Patriots’ snuff. They will go back to the locker room and bang their heads against the walls and brutalize themselves for not being the perfect “looking” team that they’re always supposed to be. Brady will most likely spend the next week, 24/7, going over every play to see what he did wrong and how he can improve. After all, if the Titans were able to get close by only three scores, chances are Brady’s next visitors to Foxboro may just be able to get close by two scores. (Double Gasp!!) Oh, the humanity!

Lighten up, Tom and Bill; even a higher power made some mistakes. Ever seen an ostrich? That poor creature had a really bad day. Who knows? Maybe they’ll both break a smile if they win the Super Bowl. At least for a minute…before getting to work on how they hang their heads in shame next season.

But that’s not the only team in New England that either has immersed themselves in a bucket of humility, drank very odd water that only runs through New England, or has a massive obsession with having a flaw. There is another. And this one happens to be in the realm of collegiate basketball. Bring on the UCONN women’s basketball team.

The Huskies have broken a record. They have won 91 straight games. (No, that’s not a misprint – they are only 9 away from getting to one hundred wins.) And the record they broke was the record set by…them. The Connecticut Huskies broke the NCAA record of 90 straight wins they set six years ago, when they chalked up their 91st straight win on Saturday with an 88-48 romp over SMU. (Triple Gasp!!!) They only won by half? Now that’s embarrassing. Talk about not even trying to be good, aye?

They move to 16-0 overall and 4-0 in the ACC. You wonder if the games would be more fun and interesting if the Huskies just sat out the first half, allowed their opponents to stand on the court, shoot the ball and see how many points they could put on the scoreboard, before going in and playing the second half and shooting straight by them to achieve their 92nd win.

What did their coach say? He basically alluded to the fact that this was…well, no biggie. “It feels just like it does after winning ten straight.” Yup. That’s it. Such a ho-hum thing to do. Perhaps they should suit up at Foxboro and Brady and the gang should head to UCONN to play a little B-Ball.

Humility is nice and all, guys and gals of New England. Believing that you can always be better and try harder is also a goal that everyone should set for themselves. But after a while, watching this ultimate perfection play out makes the humble, self-deprecating speeches afterwards a little ridiculous.

Who will win the AFC Championship? The New England Patriots.

Who will win…eternally and make the women’s college basketball realm look like it’s made up of only one team? The Connecticut Huskies.

Could there be an upset? Sure.

Will there be? Nope.

If you think there will be, just remember what Robert Redford said in one of the greatest movies of all time: “You just keep thinkin’, Butch. That’s what you’re good at.”

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